BXBX NOVEL Chapter 315: Thoughts on Rio...
Chapter 315: Thoughts on Rio...
"You know what your problem is? You can't take jokes properly, man... If you had just taken it as a joke, we wouldn't have to wipe the pool here today..."
Hearing Liam's words, Link clicked his tongue and spoke.
"Why do you even make jokes like that if you know that I am going to get angry over them?... Why don't you try your jokes on Rio if you really have the guts..."
Liam wiped the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand and continued cleaning the pool while saying,
"No way, man... I think if I joked about Lia in front of him, I would be split in two pieces the next moment, so I don't really take my chances with him..."
"That guy just looks cool, chill, and ordinary most of the time, but when you are fighting him, he looks like a literal incarnation of 'Death' walking towards you..."
"When I was fighting him in the tournament, I was having so much difficulty just restraining his speed that I couldn't land a proper blow at all..."
"And you know what... That guy likely didn't use his 'Miasma' type sword attacks on me because he was saving them for you..."
Liam glanced at Link and said in a solemn voice,
"He was holding back all while fighting against me... Moreover, he never used his shadow robe against me; if he had, he wouldn't have gotten so injured either..."
Hearing Liam's words, Link smirked a bit and said,
"You only thought of it now? You know what... Even in the final fight against me... he likely still didn't use all of his trump cards...."
Link clenched his fist and said,
"Rio might seem chill and easygoing usually, but once he unsheathes his sword, believe me, he becomes a walking weapon... You know... He gives the feeling that he discards his emotions and, like..."
"How do I say... Yeah! He kind of suppresses his 'humanity', once he unsheathes his sword... I wouldn't want someone like him as an enemy, to be frank..."
Liam also nodded his head in response to those words.
"Me neither... Even now, I still have no direct counters for his 'Miasma' type attacks, and then there's that inhumane speed... as if his whole body just focuses on speed and nothing else..." Listening to those words, Link said,
"By the way, that movement art he uses, actually, I was the one who gave it to him... but he really has mastered it perfectly..."
Liam let out a sigh upon hearing those words,
"Even without that movement art, he was already fast enough, and with it... he's just insane... Not only his movement speed, but his reaction speed, response time, counterattacking speed, etc. are all insanely fast..."
"You wouldn't know what attack he might use next, as he's too fast to predict..."
Link couldn't help but nod his head solemnly at those words.
"Yes, that's the exact reason why I always end up getting hit by most of his attacks... His attacks are unpredictable; sometimes he even goes on to do ten feint attacks before delivering the real blow..."
"I have suffered a lot from those unpredictable moves... It's like you are fighting ten people at the same time... Attacks can come from any angle..."
Liam glanced at the sky and said,
"By the way, what do you think... how strong might he have become after getting that 'Blessing of the World Tree' as a reward?"
Link simply shook his head in response to those words.
"I honestly don't know... I got that leaf that helped me improve my proficiency in 'Dao Rhythm', but I am still nowhere near in proficiency when compared to him..."
Liam sighed at those words and said,
"Yeah, I know... That guy actually used my summoned beasts to improve his own proficiency when in mid-combat... He was just taking me as a good practice target..."
"From the start of our match... it wasn't even a battle; it was just a training session for him..."
Even if Liam had added Ellie to the fight, the outcome would have been the same and not too different.
Unless he uses his whole mana to fully manifest Ellie in her peak S-rank form, Rio won't have much difficulty against Liam.
But even Rio will have to step back against a peak S-ranker until he himself becomes an S- ranker.
"You know what... Rio has amazing stealth capabilities... Unless he himself wants to get seen, you won't notice his standing beside you..."
"Although I can still sense him if I deploy my dragon field or use my intuition to full capacity, that costs a lot of effort... I will tire out earlier than him..."
"This is a big disadvantage; I am still working on finding a countermeasure for this,
actually..."
The look on Link's face remained solemn as he said those words.
Even though he doesn't want to admit it, it's impossible to ignore the truth.
If Rio wants, he can sneak under the noses of S-rankers without getting noticed, which means
that for Link and the other's, Rio can become nearly invisible from their detection range.
"I heard his father was an assassin... I guess being stealthy runs in his blood..."
Liam smiled a bit while saying that.
Link shook his head and replied,
"You know... I actually went and asked my father about it... He said that Rio's father... uh, Kevin Flash, used to possess a sword that could damage 'soul' of a person; that was why he
was called Kevin 'The Soul Splitter'..."
"And now Rio has inherited his sword..."
Hearing those words, Liam felt a chill run down his spine.
"Y-you mean to say that.... the Trump card that he wasn't using on you was actually that 'soul splitting' attack? Man, that's insane... an attack that can directly split your soul..."
Link nodded his head in agreement with Liam's words.
"I think I know why he was holding back... that 'Soul Splitting' is likely a 'sure-kill' type attack; once it lands, the opponent dies... I myself wouldn't want to use such an attack on my
friends either..."
Liam's face took on a complex expression as he spoke.
"Well, although it's good that he doesn't want to use it on us, but.... There's no guarantee
about future... You know what I am saying, right?"
Link nodded his head in response to Liam's words.
"Yeah... Nothing is eternal, not even the strongest friendships... It's better if we prepare some
countermeasures early..."
"Although I don't wish such a day came, if it did, I would need some way to protect my loved ones and myself... Better be ready than be sorry..."
Link and Liam both have people to protect and people they love more than their own lives, so they can't afford to lose if a decisive battle happens.
Friendship, loyalty, etc. are strong bonds, but even the strongest and most powerful bonds erode over time, and you can never be sure what might happen in the future.
It's always good to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
"By the way, is he serious about opening a tea shop and living an ordinary life after retirement? That's such a... you know... small dream that it can't even be considered a
dream..."
"Anyone can do that afterall..."
Hearing Liam's words, Link shrugged his shoulders and said,
"I don't know, man... I have no idea what's so good about living an ordinary life... I feel that living with hundreds of servants and subordinates at your disposal is much better..."
"Maybe it's just because he likes to be a loner..."
Link tilted his head and said in a doubtful tone,
"Hmm... I think I have seen him get angry only once... It was when he was fighting that demon prince's clone in the final test of the first year... He said his parents were killed by that demon
prince..."
"Aside from that one time, I have yet to see him angry..."
Liam contemplated Link's words for a moment and then said with a smile,
"Try messing with Lia; likely it won't take more than a minute to make him angry..."
Hearing Liam's words, Link looked at Liam with a strange expression,
"You want me to get killed or something?..."
Both Link and Liam laughed at that for a few seconds before their expressions turned solemn.
They both looked into each other's eyes.
"You can feel it too, right? How Rio becomes emotionless when he unsheathes his sword..."
Liam nodded his head at those words and said in a low voice,
"Yeah... he becomes immune to emotions... In other words... even Lia isn't an exception..."
Although the two of them found it hard to believe, their instincts were telling them that Rio had started to reach a state where he could discard his humanity whenever he wanted.
He can become a 'Monster' or a 'Human', whenever he feels like it.
Link sighed and said,
"How about we train together sometimes... Maybe we can come up with some counter
measures..."
Liam nodded his head and replied,
"Although I doubt this scenario is going to happen anytime soon but... it's better to be ready
for anything that may come..."
...
Author's Notes
Yo! It's your beloved author here!
It seems that Rio's amazing progress has finally made Link and Liam feel motivated to work
harder...
Question of the day:
Which side of Rio do you like the most?
1. Chill and carefree side (Making tea and passing time looking at the rising sun...)
2. W Rizz mode (Flirting and messing around with Lia...)
3. Professional thief mode (Plotting against Fade and stealing things from him...)
4. Emotionless Mode (No distracting emotions, no talking, just straight up sword attacks...)
By the way, don't forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.